Bumper for baby walkers



May 11, 1965 w. WILLIAMS BUMPER FOR BABY WALKERS Filed Aug. 50, 1962 INVENTOR. WILLIAMS WILLIE ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,183,028 BUMPER FOR BABY WALKERS Willie Williams, 13 Anne St, South River, NJ.

Filed Aug. 30, 1962, Ser. No. 220,435

. 10 Claims. (Cl. 293-62) This invention relates to baby walkers of the collapsible type, and a primary object of the invention is the provision of certain new and improvements to enhance the utility and safety of such devices.

In the case of the common or standard form of baby walkers on the market, an infant seated therein and learning to walk with the aid thereof, is subject to striking his head against a table top or the like since the device itself is of a low enough height to pass under the table whereas the childs head projects Well above the device. Also, the usual baby walkerfrequently strikes or scrapes parts of articles of furniture with consequent damage thereto.

It is thereforea further object of the invention to provide a protective bumper encircling the baby walker at a level relatively close to the floor, so that when the child propels the device toward a table the bumper will meet.

a table leg and thus stop it before the childs head reaches the table top.

A further object of the invention is the provision of V such a bumper in the form of a resiliently yieldable member, such as, for example, a rubber or plastic garden hose which will not damage the furniture and which will resume its normal shape after being removed from contact with the furniture.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of novel means for attaching the bumper to the baby Walker so that it may be readily removed therefromto permit the walker to be folded into collapsed position for storage or for transportation.

Yet another object of the invention is the provision of novel means for joining the two ends of a length of hose to form substantially the outline of a circle around the baby walker so that the hose itself may be rolled up or otherwise reduced to a small-dimensioned size for storage or transportation thereof.

The above as well as additional and more'specific objects will be clarified in the following description wherein reference numerals refer to like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawing. It is to be noted that the drawing is intended primarily for the purpose of illustration and that it is therefore neither desired nor intended to limit the invention necessarily to any or all of the details shown or described except insofar as they may be essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing, FIG. 1 is a top plan 7 view of the improved baby walker of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevational view, with parts broken away and partly in section, taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional View taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary View of the bumper showing the manner of reinforcing the same and inter-connecting the two ends of a length of tubing or hose to form a circular or endless bumper member.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 10 indicates a well known type of baby walker of the collapsible type. The Walker has a frame consisting of two substantially U-shaped members pivoted together; the frame members areindicated by the numerals 11 and 12, and their pivots by the numeral 13. The extremities 14 of the arms of the U-shaped members are vertical and 3,133,323 Patented May 11, 1965 are providedwith casters 15. Linkages 16 pivoted at their extremities to portions 17 of the members 11 positioned above the level of the pivot axis of the pivot bolts 13, serve to limit the spreading apart of the members to maintain the portions 14 vertical when the device is ready for use, the portions 14 thus constituting legs. ,A flexible fabric seat 18 is suspended from the frame portions above the said pivot axis and is provided with leg openings 19. The device is collapsible by-swinging the two members 11 about the said pivot axis to bringthe front and back portions of the members close together; the front end of the device is at the left, FIGS. 1 and 2.

The device as so far described is found on themarket. The improvements presented by the present invention are as follows:

At a common horizontal level, assuming the device to I be in the extended position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a

end portion 24 bent to the plane of the remainder of the bracket at an :obtuse angle, substantially as shown. Further, the extension 24 is curved about a'vertioal axis to conform to the curvature of the interior wall of the leg. Thus the stem is insertable through theslot 20 into the position thereof shown in FIG. 4, with the convex side of the extension registering against the concave inner wall of the leg 14 opposite the wall which containsthe slot 21. Both arms 23 of the brackets 21 have their upper extremities deformed to provide extensions 25 which lie in a plane parallel with the plane of the stern portion 24. An endless or circular relatively resilient bumper 26, made of rubber hose, plastic hose, or any other suitable material, is provided. This'burnper has extending through the underside thereof pairs of spaced slots 27 spaced apart arcuately a distance equal to the spacing between the bracket extensions 25. The bumper is thus mounted upon the brackets by registering the extensions 25 in the 7 slots 27. The weight of the bumper member upon the brackets maintains the stem extension portions 24 in snug engagement with the inner walls of the legs 14. t

It is desirable that the bumper, if made of hose, be reinforced with a resilient member such as a relatively thin steel band. FIG. 6 shows the two juxtaposed ends of a length of hose bent into the shape of a ring for use as a bumper. A steel band 28 of greater length than that of the hose, is passed entirely through the length of hose (although FIG. 6 shows but the two juxtaposed end portions of the band) so that its two ends 29 and 30 protrude from the hose. The two ends of the hose are joined by sliding the ends 20 and 30 of the band over each other in an obvious manner. The reinforcement prevents too great yielding of the bumper upon striking an object, and the separability of the two ends of the hose permits of rolling the latter up after removal, into a smaller mass. The frictional engagement between the two ends of the steel band also tends to prevent the two hose ends from pulling apart.

It is now apparent that as a child, seated in the seat 18, propels the walker, if he should come close to a table leg or other article of furniture the bumper 26 will be stoppedby the obstacle both to prevent damage to the furniture not to be construed as a, limitation upon the invention I which is best defined in the accompanying claims.

The line or plane of union or junction of the two juxtaposed ends of the hose 26 is indicated at 29 in FIG. 1, although it may of course be in any circumferential position on the device.

It is to be noted, FIGS. 3, 4 and 5, that the metallic band 28 tends, owing to its resiliency, to expand radially outward against the radially outward wall of the hose 26, so that the extensions or ears 25 of the brackets 21 are positioned radially inward of the band.

The invention having thus been described, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is as follows:

1. In a baby walker adapted to be self-propelled on a floor and having circumferentially spaced legs supporting the same, the lowermost portions of the legs being vertical and provided with casters, the improvement consisting of the provision of a generally upwardly and radially outwardly extending bracket secured to the lowermost portion of each of said legs, the brackets extending upward to a common horizontal level, said level being positioned at a height substantially above the level of the uppermost portions of the casters, a resilient substantially circular bumper mounted on the brackets, and means partly on the bumper and partly on the brackets for releasably securing the bumper to the brackets.

2. In a baby walker adapted to be self-propelled on a floor and having circumferentially spaced hollow cylindrical upright legs supporting the same, the improvement consisting in the provision in each of the legs of a slot through the radially outward portion of the wall thereof, the slots being positioned in a common horizontal plane, a unitary bracket for each of the legs comprising a first portion having a length greater than the outer diameter of the legs and a second portion extending from the lower end thereof at an obtuse angle thereto, the brackets being mounted on the legs with the first portions thereof extending angularly downward through the slots and with the second portions engaging the radially inward portions of the inner walls of the legs below the level of the slots, said first portions of the brackets further extending to a common level above the floor, a substantially circular bumper mounted on said first portions, and means partly on said first portions and partly on the bumper for releasably securing the bumper to the brackets.

3. An improvement according to claim 2, said bumper consisting of a length of resilient hollow tubing and a resilient reinforcing member extending through the tubing.

4. An improvement according to claim 2, said bumper consisting of a length of resilient hollow tubing and a reinforcing band of resilient material of greater length than the tubing and having the ends thereof projecting beyond the ends of the tubing, each projecting end of the band extending into the juxtaposed end of the tubing and being positioned engaging the other projecting end thereby providing frictional releasable means for maintaining the juxtaposed ends of the tubing substantially in multual contact.

5. An improvement according to claim 2, said means comprising upwardly extending ears on the first portions of the brackets and complementary slots in the bumper, said ears registering in said last-mentioned slots.

6. An improvement according to claim 2, said second portions of the brackets having a curvature complementary to said inner portions of the inner walls of the legs.

7. An improvement according to claim 2, said first portions of the brackets comprising two divergent arms, said means which is on said first portions consisting of up wardly extending ears on said arms, said means which is on the bumper comprising slots in the bumper in which said ears register.

8. An improvement according to claim 1, said bumper comprising a length of resilient hollow tubing having a band of resilient material extending therethrough.

9. An improvement according to claim 1, said bumper comprising a length of resilient hollow tubing and a band of resilient material having a length greater than the tubing, the ends of the band projecting from the ends of the tubing, each projecting end of the band extending into the juxtaposed end of the tubing and being positioned in frictional engagement with the other projecting end thereby providing frictional releasable means for maintaining the juxtaposed ends of the tubing substantially in mutual contact.

' 10. An improvement according to claim 1, said means comprising upwardly extending ears on the brackets and complementary slots in the bumper, said ears registering in said slots.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,765,839 10/56 Arpin 28087.02

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A BODY WALKER ADAPTED TO BE SELF-PROPELLED ON A FLOOR AND HAVING CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED LEGS SUPPORTING THE SAME, THE LOWERMOST PORTIONS OF THE LEGS BEING VERTICAL AND PROVIDED WITH CASTERS, THE IMPROVEMENT CONSISTING OF THE PROVISION OF A GENERALLY UPWARDLY AND RADIALLY OUTWARDLY EXTENDING BRACKET SECURED TO THE LOWERMOST PORTION OF EACH OF SAID LEGS, THE BRACKETS EXTENDING UP- 